Let’s face it

If I wasn’t already unnaturally fascinated by family resemblances, Ulric Collette’s photographs would have sealed the deal.

Collette’s collection of split-screen photos shows just how deep family roots run.

The results are striking. Some photos of siblings almost appear to be the same person. The photos of parents and children often seem to be the same person through the years rather than different generations.

An adoptee, I’ve spent a lifetime wondering who I look like and an equal amount of time marveling over others’ shared features and gestures. Newly reunited with my first mother and learning about my extended first family, I’m finding shared looks and expressions along the way.

I learned of Collette’s work in this Fast Company story, and have been back to the photo collection again and again.

I’m wowed each and every time (and now in search of a way to do this for me and everyone I know!).

My cousin has a photo of me as a toddler on the sidewalk in front of my grandmother’s front door. Gram is standing in the doorway watching me. At that point she was about 48. When I first saw the photo, I wondered why I was an adult standing at Gram’s (we sold that house when I was a young teen), then I realized that I was the toddler. If I can get Linda to find the photo, I’ll send it to you.